


(Un)ravel

by chii_kakumei



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, I think they'll be happy though, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 11:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14873286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chii_kakumei/pseuds/chii_kakumei
Summary: The first thing Yusaku loses isn’t a duel. It’s a person.





	1. Yusaku

**Author's Note:**

> AU where important things/relationships show up as marks on the skin? i guess  
> i was saving this but here have it now

Yusaku’s soulmate mark appears when he’s sixteen years old- just a few weeks out from seventeen, and it almost takes him by surprise. In honesty, he kind of expects something cliche. One of the girls that visits Cafe Nagi every Saturday like clockwork has a heart on the inside of her wrist. It’s very romantic, she claims, though there’s hundreds of thousands of people out there with the same mark, in the same place. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s what Yusaku expects to get, after all.

Yusaku stares down at his mark. It shows up just below his left collarbone, which is fortunate because of how easy it is to hide. He’s just not sure what it is. It’s a knot, but not one that’s actually tied. Just loosely looped, two threads curling together. Plain and unremarkable, compared to some of the marks that decorate the skin of passers by.

It’s still the most beautiful mark he’s ever gotten. It’s delicate and detailed, a contrast to the thick, jagged black lines on his back that he’s had as long as he can remember. Those are reminders of days he’d rather forget.

He doesn’t show Kusanagi the mark. He doesn’t dare, even though there’s no one else it could possibly mean. He knows it has to be Kusanagi, because their first kiss happens just before the mark shows up. Yusaku is tired and the monitor screens are softly lit, and he can’t stop himself from saying that this is a bad idea. And it turns out it really might not be, because they have a second kiss, too.

The marks shows up two days later, just when Yusaku is starting to think that maybe it’s all a dream. He knows that in the stories and the movies people rush to tell their soulmates, and then the screen cuts to black as the credits play. A happy ending that doesn’t account for the rest of their lives. Yusaku only traces a line of it, then thinks that part of him wants to do the same.

But if, by some chance, the mark doesn’t mean what he thinks it does… Yusaku can’t lose this. Not when it took him to long to find it.

 

Kusanagi is hurting. He’s pained and he’s trying so hard not to show it, because Kusanagi never shows Yusaku his pain. The Lost Incident made him a victim too, another child searching and searching for his brother only to have his family fall apart when they finally got him back.

His revenge was Kusanagi’s revenge. Yusaku moving on was Jin healing and Kusanagi feeling relieved. But now it’s all fallen apart again. Yusaku’s hand goes unconsciously towards the mark on his collarbone but he stops himself just in time from giving away the little worry.

“Thanks for today,” Kusanagi says, “I’ll drive you home for the night and take over here.”

But Yusaku doesn’t want that. Maybe it’s selfish, to keep Kusanagi away from the data and from the clues of Jin. But he’s _hurting._

“Can you stay with me tonight?” Yusaku asks, because the prospect of going home to an empty house is just too lonely, tonight. And besides. He doesn’t want to leave Kusanagi alone. Not like this.

Kusanagi sends him a soft look. Yusaku knows why. He used the same words as he did the first time on purpose.

 

“ _Can you stay with me tonight?”_

“Just to sleep,” he clarifies when it looks like Kusanagi might be about to lecture him.

“The alternative is criminal, Yusaku,” Kusanagi says, and Yusaku shrugs.

“We’re already criminals. It doesn’t matter if no one finds out.”

Kusanagi splutters out his name like he’s scandalized. Yusaku just shrugs again. He’s relatively uninterested, but he’s not exactly innocent. Saying otherwise would just make him a liar.

“Just to sleep,” Kusanagi reiterates, which is both an agreement and an almost stern warning. It kind of feels like a promise, though. That their relationship will go somewhere, at some point. Maybe- probably- not immediately, but eventually. They’ll have the time.

It’s strange to walk into his apartment with Kusanagi, with the intention to _stay._ They walk strange circles around each other. Kusanagi doesn’t take off his sweater, and Yusaku realizes he can’t take off his shirt unless he either turns his back or goes to the bathroom, both of which aren’t exactly ideal. The marks like scars the Lost Incident left on his back aren’t pretty. If possible, he doesn’t want anyone to see.

Decision made, he takes a step towards the bathroom, but before he can, Kusanagi beats him to the punch.

“Yusaku. I have a confession to make,” Kusanagi says, and bares his left arm. And for a second Yusaku can’t say anything, because it’s _there._

The same mark as the one on his chest. Yusaku sits down on the bed and drops his nightshirt to the side, tracing a finger along the soft lines of Kusanagi’s mark.

“It’s the same.”

The relief that courses through the both of them then is immediate, and the air around them lightens immediately.

“Does this mean I don’t have to wear sweaters anymore?” Kusanagi jokes, and Yusaku nods. He’s not sure why he ever worried. They spend a long while just like that. Neither of them say it, but they both know, and that’s all that matters.

The bed isn’t really big enough for the both of them. But still, they both slip in a way, sleeping on their sides to at least try to be comfortable.

“Goodnight,” he says, and Kusanagi returns it with a smile, sort and tired and suddenly everything Yusaku realizes he loves.

“Goodnight, Yusaku.”

It takes him a very long time to close his eyes, that night, suddenly captivated by the sense that this is _real._ They’re here, together, with matching marks. But when he does, he falls asleep faster than he’d ever done before. No nightmare dares disturb him, not anymore.

The next morning he wakes up with a familiar presence at his back and an arm slung over him, a leg pressed not-quite between his. It’s safety. It’s a good thing. It’s peace. Yusaku wants to drown in it forever.

 

This time it’s different. He ushers Kusanagi to the bed first, because he already looks like he’s going to fall over on his feet. By the time Yusaku is back from the bathroom, Kusanagi is already asleep, passed out in everything but his coat and shoes.

Something in Yusaku aches as he crawls into bed beside him, not caring that he’s sprawled out across it, not caring about anything except the fact he’s _here._

“Kusanagi?” He tries, but Kusanagi is fast asleep. He doesn’t get so much as a groan in response. But that’s okay, Yusaku thinks, and nestles himself into Kusanagi’s side, using his arm as a pillow for lack of room.

“I’ll save Jin. I promise. That was one of my three things, so I won’t fail,” Yusaku swears. Tomorrow will be a new day. They’ll make progress, and Jin will be back. They’re moving on. The marks prove that. Certain of that, Yusaku too falls asleep.

 

But maybe he’s not allowed to have good things. Maybe he’s not allowed to save people. Maybe he’s just supposed to be alone. Because he can’t get Jin back. No matter what he does or how far he goes, it’s never enough. Even though he wins every duel, it’s not enough.

And now Kusanagi stands before him, duel disk on his arm and face set into a horribly cold expression, asking Yusaku to turn away. To go back. To let him leave.

He thinks about the mark, and the meaning he was realizing it held. A knot coming undone. He’d known he wouldn’t be able to stay with Kusanagi forever. They’d never intended that in the first place. But things had changed, when the mark had shown up. But...

“You can’t really be my enemy,” Yusaku says. He wants to sound more determined than he is. But he’d never thought about this. Not even is his worst nightmares. “You can’t go to them.”

“For Jin?” Kusanagi replies, “I’ll do anything.”

And how can Yusaku fault him that? He’s failed. Jin is still suffering, and so is Kusanagi.

But still, but still. Yusaku can’t just let him go. Not without a fight. He lifts his arm, takes up a dueling stance. In his duel disk, Ai chirps in alarm, waving his hands- “Playmaker, come on! This is Kusanagi we’re talking about, he can’t-“

“You have three turns,” Kusanagi says, staring Yusaku down with determination that won’t be shaken. “If you win in three turns, then I’ll give up on my plan. I won’t go. But if it takes any longer than that, you have to let me try this. If joining them is what it takes to save Jin, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Not, ‘ _if I win?_ ’” Yusaku asks. Kusanagi shakes his head and for a second- just for the tiniest second, Yusaku thinks he sees Kusanagi look at him fondly.

“You’re strong, Yusaku. You’re going to win. Let’s just see how long I can hold you off for.”

“If that’s what it takes,” Yusaku replies, and thinks that this time he won’t fail. He can’t afford to.

But the thing is, the thing he’s always known is: Kusanagi is strong, too.

He wins the duel, but fails the time limit. Four turns isn’t enough to convince him to stay. Four turns won’t bring back Jin. And Yusaku won’t stop him, even though he reaches out a hand in a silent plea. _If you won’t stay, then at least take me with you. Please._

Kusanagi shakes his head and turns his back, and then he’s gone. He’s… gone. Yusaku clutches at the point on his chest where the mark should be, though things like that don’t carry over to their avatars. Still, it feels like it burns. Or maybe that’s just something in his heart, aching at the realization that the mark doesn’t mean what he thinks it does.


	2. Kusanagi

Kusanagi never goes to LINK VRAINS. There are various reasons for it, really. He doesn’t really duel, and he doesn’t really like VR, if he’s being honest. He prefers working from the outside.

But the main reason is: he needs to be the person Yusaku can come back to. He needs to be here when Yusaku tumbles out of the uplink room to catch him. To be there to push back Yusaku’s hair after a nightmare and press lips to his forehead and tell him that things are alright. Not that he does that last one. Yusaku has enough to worry about without having to navigate a romance, too.

But as he watches Yusaku at the top of that tower, fighting for his life...

Not for the first time he’s afraid.

But for the first time he’s almost petrified by the fear that grips his heart.

He’s never thought about Yusaku not returning to him before. If Yusaku doesn’t come back, he’ll never forgive himself. There’s so many things he should have realized. A thousand more he should have done.

 _Don’t think that way_ , he chides himself. He believes in Yusaku and his power to accomplish his goals more than anything else.

And in the end, it turns out okay. Yusaku comes back, the world is saved, and he can finally tell Jin the good news.

The world starts to change, so it only makes sense that they change along with it.

 

This is how it happens: They’re up late working in Cafe Nagi- or rather, Kusanagi is up late working on things of very questionable legality because it’s going to pay a pretty penny and he won’t say no to anything that keeps Jin in a good place. Yusaku offers to help, and Kusanagi isn’t quite selfless enough to turn him down.

Yusaku’s stopped working, though. Kusanagi doesn’t really mind, since it’s his work first and foremost. But Yusaku is kind of… staring at him. This has happened before. Kusanagi isn’t blind. But Yusaku has never been this blatant about it before, and it’s starting to set him a little on edge. He keeps working, but he starts to think about it. Now that it’s all over, there’s a better chance that things will calm down. If it’s a romance, then-

He doesn’t get a chance to finish his thought, because there’s sudden movement at his side. The second he turns towards it, Yusaku kisses him. It’s soft, and tentative, and Yusaku scrambles back a second after it’s over, trying and failing to put on a nonchalant sort of face.

“Don’t worry about that.” He’s not doing a very good job of hiding his worry. It’s practically spilling off him in waves.

“Yusaku.”

“Sorry.”

“Listen-“

“Sorry. Don’t-“

“Yusaku.” Okay, enough of this. He pulls Yusaku forwards again and kisses him back. And Yusaku… melts. There isn’t really another way to describe how he sinks into him, trusts Kusanagi to support his weight. His hands clutch just short of desperate into the folds of his sweatshirt, tugging it tight against his skin.

It doesn’t last for very long. Just a second to get it through Yusaku’s head he doesn’t have to apologize. That Kusanagi would very much not mind Yusaku doing that again.

Yusaku pulls back again this time, but it’s much slower. He looks like he’s trying to catch his breath, even though the kisses were just short, chaste little things. For a second he just watches, stares at Kusanagi again like he’s not sure that this is something he’s actually allowed to have.

Then Yusaku lets his head rest on Kusanagi’s shoulder and it’s… a lot. He’s known for a long time that Yusaku trusts him. Maybe more than he trusts anyone else in the world. But this is vulnerability. His hands come up to pull Yusaku closer, wrapping him up in a hug.

Yusaku can fight on his own. He’s proved that a dozen times over since they first joined hands to fight Hanoi. But _god_ does Kusanagi want to protect him.

The mark appears two days later, high up on his left wrist. Near where a duel disk would go, if he used one. A loose woven rope, being tied into a knot. The meaning is clear as it’s ever been.

This isn’t a mistake. If they’d worried over closing the gap before, this just proves they’ve never had anything to fear.

But still.

Yusaku isn’t skittish, exactly, but it’s probably better to wait for him to bring it up. Things are going to start changing, over the next few months. He’s going to visit Jin even more. And if his condition is good enough, he’d like to bring Jin home.

It just means that he has to wear long sleeves, for the next few days, probably. It’s almost summer, but he can deal with it.

 

He loves the mark, is the thing. Once he spills the secret to Yusaku and Yusaku return it in kind, there’s no reason to worry about hiding it. Customers ask about it sometimes with knowing smiles, and he just laughs and winks in return, occasionally playing into a joke or two about tying the knot-m, though usually not when Yusaku is around to hear. Though the way those jokes make him flush behind the customer's backs is always a delight for Kusanagi to watch, a kind of harmless reminder that things are alright, now. Jin is getting better, Yusaku seems more peaceful, and Kusanagi feels the best he has in a decade. The future is bright. They’ll face it together. Kusanagi never knew, until then, just what beautiful things could be born of revenge.

 

He hates this. He hates this more than he’s ever hated anything besides Hanoi, and even then this is a strong contender, because even his best option is still terrible.

He doesn’t want to hurt Yusaku.

He’s going to have to.

One way or another, Yusaku is going to end up hurt. At least this way, Kusanagi might be able to keep him safe.

That doesn’t mean he hates it any less.

But it can wait, just a little while. He can’t make a move until he knows Yusaku will be okay, no matter how much he wants to throw caution to the wind and get Jin back right this instant. He can’t just abandon one of his most important people for the other. That’s not how this works. That isn’t how he’s going to let this work.

But maybe he’s not meant to be the kind of man who can save people. Maybe his plans aren’t ever supposed to work out.

It’s a habit to fall asleep in the same bed, now. He knows Yusaku finds it reassuring, having someone else’s presence at his side. The bed is small, but Kusanagi will never complain. Having someone by his side soothes him, too.

“You’ll be fine without me,” Kusanagi says, though Yusaku is already asleep. He runs his fingers through Yusaku’s hair for a little while, then leans forwards to press a kiss to his forehead, like a charm to ward off the nightmares that might arise while he’s not there to watch over him. “But I’m sorry. I’m sorry. When I come back, I hope you can forgive me.”

In his sleep, Yusaku shifts a bit closer, seeking out the warmth of him, even in this summer heat. Kusanagi pulls him gently closer, slinging an arm over his shoulders and letting Yusaku tuck his head close to his chest in a way he might be too embarrassed if he was awake.

It’s cute, and he feels so unbearably fond. He returns to running his fingers through Yusaku’s hair, short as it is.

Yusaku is kind. So, so kind. But not even soulmates can always survive a broken heart. He likes to think they will.

But just in case...

Just let him have this. He won’t ask for Yusaku to take him back. He won’t even ask for Yusaku to forgive him. Just… Before he ruins this and changes the meaning of that mark he loves so much, one of the few good things he still has, just let them have a few more moments of peace.


End file.
